Sugar Bowl sponsor sparks outrage with ‘shameful’ comments following New Orleans terror attack
Fans tuning into the Sugar Bowl were outraged by a statement from Tom Wilson, the chairman, president and CEO of The Allstate Corporation, where he spoke about Wednesday’s terrorist attack just before kickoff.
The attack, which killed fourteen people in the early hours of New Year’s Day. postponed the College Football Playoff quarterfinal by a day, with President Joe Biden also making a statement before the game before the title sponsor’s CEO delivered his speech.
Wilson isn’t the only one under fire for their portion of Thursday’s broadcast, as ESPN was criticized for not showing the national anthem or the game’s minute of silence.
“Welcome to the Allstate Sugar Bowl,” Wilson’s speech began. “On Wednesday, tragedy struck the New Orleans community. Our prayers are with the victims and their families.”
“We must also be stronger together by overcoming an addiction to division and negativity. Join Allstate and work in local communities across America to amplify the positive, increase trust, and accept people’s imperfections and differences. Together we win.’
The response to that message was not well received in any medium, including social media.
College football fans were not happy with Wilson’s message before the Sugar Bowl
Notre Dame defeated Georgia in the game that was postponed a day because of the attack
‘Total indulgence. Absurd,” said someone on social media.
“@Allstate should be commercially punished for this video. Incomprehensible.’
“@Allstate IN WHICH UNIVERSE was this a good idea?”
“There are other insurance companies.”
A collection of social media posts about Allstate CEO Tom Wilson’s Sugar Bowl speech
After law enforcement officers searched the area and cleared it of any possible hazards, the game went ahead as planned Thursday afternoon after the postponement.
Before the match started, the US national anthem was played (as is customary before sporting events in the US) and a moment of silence was held in honor of the victims of the attack.
But neither of these moments — the national anthem or the silence — were shown on ESPN, as the network instead had a studio show breaking down the game.
This decision was criticized on social media, with many people angry that the Worldwide Leader in Sports would choose not to show the two events.